I am not gonna go 'RIP RYAN GRACIE YOU WERE A LOST SOUL BUT ESSENTIALLY GOOD' because I'm not an idiot and I didn't know him from Adam, but it isn't right to run a dude and his family down after the guy died. Cracky's being a douchebag, and even if it's his gimmick, it just ain't right.

On one hand it is unfair to attack the deceased´s family, specially at this moment.

But I´ve just talked to a BJJ blackbelt, a teacher, who knew Ryan personally. He mourns the lost potential in that man, while saying it was basically the family´s fault - he was raised to be a pitbull, so he became a pitbull.

So it is hard to pity the family as well.

On the other hand, Ryan symbolized everything that is wrong with martial arts in Brazil. He got into fights, he stabbed one guy over a stupid fight in a club years ago, and - check this out, I heard it from one of his students - he once beat up one of his own students just because the poor bastard looked at his girlfriend.

And now...well, what I read is this: he attacked a 76 years old man with a knife (don´t know if the old man was wounded or not), stole his car, hit a post, tried to steal a motorcycle, and got subdued by a bunh of bikers.

Here in Brazil it is hard to admit you practice BJJ - one in three people will say "oh, didn´t that guy who stabbed someone was a BJJ blackelt or something?" and bingo, you are now guilty of being a violent SOB by association. Things will only get worse after this whole affair.

The BJJ teacher I referred to said "Great, now what will I say to the parents of my 12 years old students?". Frankly, I feel the same way, even if I am only a student myself.

That civilisation may not sink,
Its great battle lost,
Quiet the dog, tether the pony
To a distant post;
Our master Caesar is in the tent
Where the maps are spread,
His eyes fixed upon nothing,
A hand under his head.

The stuff coming out about Ryan, such as the above post by WCL, should make some people rethink their judgmental attitude toward others who do not choose to jump on the "RIP, you anonymous name in a news story" bandwagon, or (how dare they!) even make an off color humorous remark.

It amazes me that people who didn't even know the man feel they are qualified to judge other people who didn't even know the man based on the mere fact that they decide to make light of another senseless death in the world. Since when did it become the mark of a horrible person to deal with death differently? "You can sure tell who the immature a-holes in this thread are!" O, rly? How's the view from way up there on your high horses, folks? Has it changed any in light of the fact that this guy was most likely a violent drug addicted criminal?

Incidentally, the fact that Ryan was drugged during the whole sad affair is beyond dispute. What remains to be seen is what caused his death.

The BJJ teacher I referred to said the guy had serious psychological problems as well, but he couldn´t say if he took any drugs for those.

That civilisation may not sink,
Its great battle lost,
Quiet the dog, tether the pony
To a distant post;
Our master Caesar is in the tent
Where the maps are spread,
His eyes fixed upon nothing,
A hand under his head.

But I´ve just talked to a BJJ blackbelt, a teacher, who knew Ryan personally. He mourns the lost potential in that man, while saying it was basically the family´s fault - he was raised to be a pitbull, so he became a pitbull.

On the other hand, Ryan symbolized everything that is wrong with martial arts in Brazil. He got into fights, he stabbed one guy over a stupid fight in a club years ago, and - check this out, I heard it from one of his students - he once beat up one of his own students just because the poor bastard looked at his girlfriend.

The BJJ teacher I referred to said "Great, now what will I say to the parents of my 12 years old students?". Frankly, I feel the same way, even if I am only a student myself.

Yeah, Ryan's definitely in the "act like a gangster and go out like a gangster" bracket.

I think your BJJ instructor need only say, "Look, at least this isn't an XMA school, o.k.?" Ryan was more a symbol of why the Gracies jumped the shark: you can get the kid out of the ghetto (favela?) but you can't get the ghetto out of the kid. Especially if you cultivate it in him.

Seriously, I think it makes your teacher's mission more important. Understanding how adults **** up their lives is an important lesson to 12 yr olds. It wasn't the BJJ, it was the player.

BTW, it wasn´t my BJJ teacher who said that, it was another guy. Still...

That civilisation may not sink,
Its great battle lost,
Quiet the dog, tether the pony
To a distant post;
Our master Caesar is in the tent
Where the maps are spread,
His eyes fixed upon nothing,
A hand under his head.

The stuff coming out about Ryan, such as the above post by WCL, should make some people rethink their judgmental attitude toward others who do not choose to jump on the "RIP, you anonymous name in a news story" bandwagon, or (how dare they!) even make an off color humorous remark.

It amazes me that people who didn't even know the man feel they are qualified to judge other people who didn't even know the man based on the mere fact that they decide to make light of another senseless death in the world. Since when did it become the mark of a horrible person to deal with death differently? "You can sure tell who the immature a-holes in this thread are!" O, rly? How's the view from way up there on your high horses, folks? Has it changed any in light of the fact that this guy was most likely a violent drug addicted criminal?

Hm.

Because I am smart I knew all this before I commented, which is why I stand by all my previous statements whilst the rest of you fags scramble to backpeddle your unicycles of trite emotional sentiment back onto the fence of "well okay X is bad, but I sympathize with him for Y". RIP RYAN I'LL BUY YOU A BEER UP IN HEAVEN BRO ALONGSIDE ALL THOSE 9/11 FIREMEN TO WHOM I ALSO OWE BEERS

I'm not even a hard-liner when it comes to criminals. i'm generally sympathetic and willing to listen to their side of the story without forgetting the gravity of their crimes. But gang, when you go out on a GTA-style coke-fueled knife-wielding rampage that only ended because a biker gang had to stop you from shanking an old man, you're a fucking dick. I don't know what other standards you guys need to call someone a dick. Like, did he seriously have to snort all that rock from the ravaged caverns of a ten year old's anus before your self-righteous Internet moralizing goes as flaccid as Ryan's blackening genitalia?

And it wouldn't be so bad if you guys were just trying to, to, Christ, what do kids say? "Keep it real". But implying an unwillingness to hop on the CHRIS BENOIT WAS AN AMERICAN HERO WHOOPS N/M bndwagon is somehow indicative or moral failing or poor upbringing is the sort of retarded bandwagon mentality that the Martians are always giving our species **** for.

Captain's Log: Just a little update for all my TRUE and HONEST friends out there:

1) I am STRAIGHT! I am STRAIGHT! Get it through your thick skulls, numbskulls!

2) My name is not Ian Brandon Something.

3) Kacey is coming with me now. I have stolen her from the other Christian Weston Chandler.

REMINDER: I am still the one and only true creator of sonichu and rosechu electric hedgehog pokemon